A-levels: Wellingborough students react to results of first formal exams

Students at Wrenn School in Wellingborough have got their their A Level results after taking their first formal exams

Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have received their A-level results. For many, they are the first formal exams they had taken, because GCSEs did not go ahead as normal during the pandemic. How did students at Wrenn School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, get on?

'To imply we are not affected by Covid is a bit absurd'

Kai Maddocks says the past two years have been "a difficult time"

Kai Maddocks,18, says he is "feeling good" after getting the grades to study computer science at St Andrews University.

"It's two years of hard work finally paying off," he says. "I've had a difficult time but I've done it and I can go to university now. That's the main thing.

"It was a really long journey, and obviously it's been very tough for everyone, we've never sat exams before and the stress was up, but I did it, I managed to get here."

He adds that he feels it has been hard being judged at pre-pandemic levels.

"To be honest, I don't think it is fair," he says.

"Our cohort had never sat exams before and to imply that we are somehow not affected by Covid to be honest is a bit absurd.

"I personally would have liked to have seen a little bit more support in place this year, and put [the A-levels] back next year, because the ones [coming] after us did actually sit exams and would have been less affected, but it is what it is and we've got here now."

'I did deserve to be in sixth form'

Chelsea Addison says her A-level results gave her "confirmation that she deserved to be in the sixth form"

Eighteen-year-old Chelsea Addison says she is "a bit shocked" by her results and "very happy" that she can go to her first choice, the University of Nottingham, to do psychology.

She says they have given her "confirmation" that she was right to have gone on to do A-levels.

"With predicted grades in GCSE, I just felt like I wasn't really deserving of the place," she says.

"But with these grades, it just secures [in my mind] the fact that I did deserve to be in sixth form."

She says she felt there was "extra pressure" because the grade boundaries were reverting to pre-pandemic levels, but she also wanted to get into a top university for her subject.

"I just felt like I had to push extra hard to definitely make sure that I got into the university that I wanted to get into," she says.

"But I didn't want to settle for anything that I wouldn't have to work hard for."

'I'd never sat a formal exam before'

Erin James says it was "really difficult" doing A-levels without exam experience

Erin James, 18, has also got into her first choice of university and is off to Warwick to do psychology.

"It's amazing that I got in because I didn't think I'd get these grades," she says.

"I thought I was going to cry seeing [them] for the first time... it's been months and months of hard work and I'd never sat a formal exam before.

"A-levels are not easy, especially since we didn't do GCSE exams. It was really difficult because we didn't have that exam experience."

'I think they could have given us a bit of leeway'

Layla Aljabbar says "ultimately I was happy that I passed all my subjects"

Layla Aljabbar says she "went through a bunch of different emotions" on seeing her results but is "happy with the grades" that she got.

She got an unconditional offer as she got through an audition to get into the University of Lincoln where drama will be part of her degree.

"I agree that some of the grade boundaries were a bit lower than I thought they would be, but ultimately I was happy that I passed all my subjects," she says.

"These are like the first tests we've ever really done so it was really weird to do them and do them in a subject that we've never done before.

"It was just quite stressful and I think they could have been a bit nicer and given us a bit of leeway."

'This is just a just a moment in time'

Head of sixth form, Natasha Thomas-Francis, says any disappointed students should remember that "this is just a just a moment in time"

Head of sixth form, Natasha Thomas-Francis, says the school is "elated".

"This is two years in the making and the students have worked so hard and they've been so determined despite all the challenges of the pandemic," she says.

"They will all say that they didn't get a chance to sit their GCSEs, that would have been foremost in their minds, but they have had quite a bit of practice.

"We've tried our best to recreate the situations of sitting examinations and I think the results have reflected the reality of everything that we faced with the pandemic."

She says the key thing for any disappointed students to remember is that "this is just a just a moment in time".

"We know that they've worked really, really hard and some will be disappointed," she says, "but they're going to use their disappointments to propel them into an alternative and we know that through their determination and through their resilience they will still be very successful."

'We prepped them as well as we could'

The school's acting principal, Laura Parker, says she is "very pleased at how they've come through the last couple of years"

The school's acting principal, Laura Parker, says she thought the students had "done remarkably well" and the school was "really proud of them".

"We're very pleased at how they've come through the last couple of years," she says.

"Obviously we've had mixed results but that's only to be expected, and they are broadly in line with what we were predicting and what the national picture looks like.

"We've seen a lot of happy tears this morning which is great."

She says that the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) had briefed schools that the grade boundaries would go back to pre-pandemic levels so they were prepared and offered support.

"We did know it was going to happen, so we just just did the best we could in terms of supporting our students and making sure that we'd filled those gaps that they had from any Covid disruption," she says.

"We had bespoke plans and support in place for those students who needed it, so we've just done the best we could and the students have done phenomenally well."

"I do think this particular cohort felt a little bit hard done by, having to do exams having not done them before, but we prepped them as well as we could.

"You can't ever recreate what it's like in the pressure of an actual exam though, and so although we did a lot of well-being and support with them in terms of exam stress and how you manage that anxiety it was always going to be tricky for them."